Congregation Helps Katrina Victims

Tiny Gulf Town Still Reeling From August Hurricane

When Hurricane Katrina's winds blew through Pearlington, Miss., on Aug. 29, it razed the town of 2,500.

"It blowed through my town, and there's not too many places left standing there," said Larry Randall, 50, a lifelong member of the Pearlington community and retired tugboat captain.

Because of its tiny size, the town has no mayor and no city commission, so it barely registered on FEMA's radar and did not see relief for weeks.

Still, it did hit the radar of St. Nicholas Episcopal Church in Pompano Beach, thanks to Melody Thompson, who works with the Army Corps of Engineers. She is the sister one of one of the church's congregants, Dr. Dannell Anschuetz.

The church members, knowing the hardship hurricanes can bring, sent eight volunteers and a large truck packed with supplies to the devastated town on Feb. 2, much to the relief of Randall, who is helping to coordinate rebuilding efforts and is the local contact for St. Nicholas' mission trip.

"I am rebuilding my home," Randall said, adding that the town saw at least 25 feet of water flow through it at the height of the storm. Randall's house, though, was not totally swept away.

"It didn't come completely off the block and I am rebuilding and running this recovery center," he said, adding that with the homes went people's jobs, and he is trying to fix that, too. "I am trying to get my buddies back into something."

Anschuetz and Deacon Valerie Vernon, both members of the Daughters of the King religious order at St. Nicholas, put their heads together and alerted other Episcopal churches in South Florida, and the response was overwhelming, Anschuetz said.

"We didn't feel like we could sit by and not help," Anschuetz said. "We found out that Pearlington had not received the help that others got, so we sent letters to other churches and we have more donations in here than we can possibly take in our first trip."

Mounds of clothing, baby supplies and tools were collected -- but it isn't the clothing that is needed in Pearlington, they said -- it's building supplies.

And those are hard to come by for a community bordered on one side by the Louisiana swamps. Most folks made a meager living, Randall said, mostly in construction, and offshore- and seafood industry-related jobs.

All that is gone, he said, except for an increase in demand for roofers and carpenters.

But building supplies, Randall said, are almost impossible to get.

"There are only 200 homes we are going to be able to rebuild out of almost 2, 000," he said, adding that before the storm there were about 800 families in town. "People are going to rebuild, but a bunch of them aren't going to come back.''

In response to these needs, St. Nicholas was able to assemble an inspiring number of donations.

About eight volunteers gathered in the community hall of St. Nicholas one evening, sorting items and packing what was to be loaded up. Clothing will be donated to local charities, but much more was going into the truck, Anschuetz said, including an array of tools, work boots, wallboard and plywood.

"With the devastation we've seen in Mississippi, it wasn't hard to see where needs were," said volunteer Ingeborg Fagin, 84, as she packed boxes.

Randall was emotional when talking about the volunteers' efforts.

"I love it, we need more of it. It is going to take a long time and years," he said, choking on his words. "I went to an official government operation center and they said that in 10 years we will still be rebuilding from this storm.

"It will take three years just getting these people out of these FEMA trailers when they only give us 18 months before they expect these folks to move. They are going to have to extend that or do something; that is cutting time sharp."

The Rev. Tim Thomas, pastor at St. Nicholas, said his congregation has a lot of compassion for the storm victims.

"This came about out of just a very emotional response on the part of lots of people in our hurricane-prone community, and we felt a lot of empathy right away," Thomas said, adding that people were horrified to learn that Pearlington did not get its power restored until mid-January.

"We've been very, very concerned with the long time it's taking to get power back and just the basics," he said. "We were without power a couple of weeks with Wilma, but these folks only got power back ... that's four months. They have no paychecks, in many places no place to live; the needs are immense."

Even with the chaos around him, Randall said people are determined to pick up the pieces, especially with volunteers such as the ones from St. Nicholas.

"I can't express enough gratitude. It's going to take everybody to come through this; we can't do it alone.''